Live in Braeside
1965 bungalows between two Red Line stations, with Southland Leisure Centre just across the northern boundary.
Braeside is 2 km² of 1965 bungalows between Anderson Road and Southland Drive: 5,700 residents in 2,480 private households at the 2021 census, 24% of them renting. Southland and Anderson CTrain stations bracket the community on the Red Line, and Anderson opened in 1981 as the original southern terminus of the line. Southland Leisure Centre sits at 2000 Southland Drive SW, across the community's northern boundary in Palliser. Median household income was $90,000 in 2020, against $98,000 citywide.
Bungalows bracketed by two CTrain stations
Bounded by Southland Drive SW to the north, Anderson Road SW to the south, 14 Street SW to the east, and 24 Street SW to the west. Wikipedia's community article names the same four streets but transposes its east and west labels. Ward 11.
Braeside was established in 1965 between Anderson Road and Southland Drive: 2 km², 5,700 residents in 2,480 private households at the 2021 census, 24% of them renting.
Southland Leisure Centre sits at 2000 Southland Drive SW, just across the community's northern boundary in Palliser, and Southland and Anderson CTrain stations bracket Braeside on the Red Line. Anderson opened on 25 May 1981 as the original southern terminus of the line.
89% of the stock went up between 1961 and 1980 and only 2% postdates 1990; 14 Street SW carries the real traffic on the eastern edge, and Southcentre Mall, across Macleod Trail from Anderson Station, compresses the errand list.
- 89% of the dwellings were built between 1961 and 1980. Budget for original wiring and plumbing
- 14 Street SW carries heavy traffic on the eastern edge
- The leisure centre is a 227,000 square foot facility on the community's doorstep: expect its weekend traffic on Southland Drive
- Southcentre Mall traffic backs up Anderson Road at peak times
How Braeside got here
- 1956The land is annexed to Calgary, nine years before the community is developed.
- 1965Braeside begins developing as a residential community between Anderson Road and Southland Drive.
- 1967The Braeside Community Association is registered as a provincial society on 23 August. Its hall is at 11024 Braeside Drive SW.
- 1981Anderson Station opens on 25 May as the original southern terminus of the CTrain's south leg, now the Red Line.
- 1961 to 198089% of the community's occupied dwellings are built in these two decades. Only 2% postdates 1990.
- 2021Federal census records 5,700 residents in 2,480 private households, 24% of them renting, with a 2020 median household income of $90,000.
A city facility across the northern boundary
Southland Leisure Centre (wave pool, water slides, two ice rinks, climbing wall, weight room) sits at 2000 Southland Drive SW, over the boundary in Palliser, with Southland Park's pathway loop next door.
What the map does not show: the leisure centre is the community's real amenity even though it is technically next door: weekends bring its traffic to the streets around it.
Elsewhere in Calgary, not Braeside
12 places, with real drive times
Road-adjusted distance and drive time from the centre of the community to each destination, nearest first. Filter by category.
Showing 1–12 of 12 places, nearest first.
Method: distances and drive times are estimated from the centre of the community to each destination using Calgary's road grid, and are rounded to honest ranges rather than presented as precise figures. Two CTrain stations compress the transit numbers; everything else is a short drive.
Every gym within reach
Southland over the northern boundary, Trico and Southcentre nearby. Confirm public swim times before you count on anything.
- Trico Centre in Haysboro covers the overflow
- GoodLife at Southcentre Mall is the commercial option
- Southland Park's pathway is the free option
- Confirm public swim times before you drive over
| Facility | What it is | Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Southland Leisure Centre open | City wave pool, waterslides, gym and fitness centre inside the community. | 3–5 min |
| Trico Centre for Family Wellness open | Large YMCA-run centre in Haysboro with pools, a track and courts. | 8–12 min |
| GoodLife Fitness Southcentre open | Commercial gym at the Southcentre Mall retail node. | 6–9 min |
| Southland Park pathway open | Free option: the paved pathway loop through the park. | 3–4 min |
The leisure centre does the daily work: everything else is backup.
Elementary, junior high and a senior high, all nearby
Wikipedia's community article names Braeside Elementary inside the community, John Ware Junior High immediately north, and Henry Wise Wood for the senior years, with Eugene Coste in Haysboro for Spanish bilingual and Chinook Park for French immersion.
| School | Board | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Braeside Elementary | Calgary Board of Education | Public elementary inside the community, as named in Wikipedia's community article. |
| John Ware Junior High | Calgary Board of Education | Public junior high, which the same article places immediately north. |
| Henry Wise Wood High School | Calgary Board of Education | The public senior high named for Braeside in the same article. |
| Specialised programmes | Calgary Board of Education | Wikipedia's community article names Eugene Coste in Haysboro for Spanish bilingual and Chinook Park for French immersion. Neither board publishes an attendance-area page this guide could open, so confirm the designation for a specific address. |
Neither board publishes an attendance-area page this guide could open, and the Calgary Catholic School District's site refuses automated requests. Confirm the designation for a specific address before you buy.
Month by month, what living here looks like
Not a highlights reel: the actual annual rhythm, including the dates residents have to remember.
- Anderson Station's platform is the community's coldest wait, exposed to the wind off Southland Drive with only a glass screen for shelter
- The Braeside Community Association floods its rink on Braeside Drive SW and posts family skate times once the freeze holds
- Southland Drive gets priority plowing while the bungalow crescents wait their turn
- Frost holds thick on the 1965 spruce along the older streets well past noon on the coldest days
- A chinook can strip the ice off Anderson Station's platform stairs within a few hours
- The community rink's surface softens first on its sun-facing corner, and the flood schedule shifts around it
- Anderson Road's rush-hour backup starts easing as the platform waits shorten with the returning light
- Southland Leisure Centre's pool deck is standing room only through the last real cold snap
- Meltwater off the bungalow roofs on the older streets refreezes into black ice by evening
- The Braeside rink closes for the season once the surface turns to slush
- Ice builds and refreezes under Anderson Station's platform overhang longer than on the streets around it
- Southland Drive's gutters run high with runoff before the storm drains keep pace
- Southland Leisure Centre's outdoor pool crew starts spring prep while the community waits on the season's first swim
- Weaselhead's trails along the Glenmore valley reopen to walkers as the snowpack clears
- Braeside Elementary's field turns to mud before the grass comes back
- Anderson Road's rush hour thickens again as the last cold snap breaks
- The 1965 canopy along Braeside's crescents fills back in, mature enough now to shade whole yards
- Weekend traffic to Glenmore Reservoir builds along 14 Street as the pathway season opens
- Southland Leisure Centre's outdoor pool opens for the season
- For-rent signs turn over fast on the quarter of Braeside's housing that's rental stock
- School lets out and John Ware's field fills with day-camp groups by mid-morning
- Southland Leisure Centre's wave pool hits its first real crowds of the season
- Anderson Station's platform trades ice for shade as commuters wait out the evening sun
- Weaselhead and the Glenmore pathway see their heaviest cyclist traffic of the year
- Anderson Station riders headed downtown for Stampede crowd the platform before eight
- Southland's outdoor wave pool runs at capacity most weekend afternoons
- Sailboats work Glenmore Reservoir most weekday evenings, visible from the reservoir pathway
- 1965 basements without air conditioning run warm through the hottest stretch of the year
- Southland Leisure Centre's outdoor pool crowds thin before the school-return rush
- Southcentre Mall's back-to-school traffic spills onto Southland Drive
- Weaselhead's cottonwoods start dropping seed fluff along the valley trail
- Rental turnover in Braeside picks up ahead of the September lease cycle
- Anderson and Southland platforms both see their morning crowds swell back by 7:30
- John Ware Junior High's lot fills for the first week of drop-offs
- The Braeside Community Association's fall program registration opens for the rink and hall
- Southland Drive's morning backup returns with the school run
- Peak colour runs through Weaselhead down to the Glenmore Reservoir shoreline
- The Braeside Community Association preps the rink boards ahead of the first hard freeze
- Anderson Station's morning wait turns genuinely cold for the first time since spring
- 1965 roofs along the older streets show frost first, ahead of the newer infill nearby
- Dark settles over Anderson Station's platform well before the five o'clock commute
- The Braeside Community Association floods the rink again once the ground freezes solid enough to hold ice
- Southcentre Mall's holiday displays go up along the Southland Drive frontage
- Weaselhead's switchbacks get their first ice of the season on the shaded stretches
- A chinook over Anderson Station's platform can turn a −20 wait into a +5 one within the hour
- The Braeside rink stays busiest over the school break, with family skates booked most afternoons
- Southland Leisure Centre's wave pool is the warmest place in the community on the coldest night
- 1965 driveways along the older crescents get their heaviest ice build of the year
Every photograph in this guide's library is above
This library holds one photograph and the page has already printed it. The credits are in the footer.
About these photographs. Openly licensed images geotagged in or near Braeside, found on Wikimedia Commons and served from there with full attribution. Inline photos elsewhere on the page may still come from the site's shared Calgary library.